The Mother: A Novel

The Mother is a masterpiece that depicts the life of a poor Chinese farmer's wife as she struggles through life on the land. She raised three children by working the land herself after her husband left her. She struggles to maintain her dignity in the absence of her husband and to avoid scandal so her son's can prosper.I loved the book and look forward to reading the full collection of Buck's books.

ALONG WITH "THE GOOD EARTH, GRAPES OF WRATH and PEONY, these are the 4 greatest books of all time. And 3 are by Pearl Buck. It It is no wonder she won both the Nobel Prize for Literature and a Pulitzer Prize.What an incredible, magical book. You are not reading. You are THERE. You are living in unbelievable poverty in rural China in a feudalistic society, just before the birth of Communism. And all you do is work yourself to death farming, trying not to die of starvation.God bless you, Ms. Buck, for the tremendous gift you have given the world.My rating for this wonder: All the stars in the sky, plus some.

The mother was never given a name yet we learned everything about her. The story moves quickly and through her trials and hardships we see her age as vividly as if we held her picture in our hands. An excellent book as usual from one of my favorite authors.

What a marvelous writer she is. It is so good for those of us with so much to realize what true poverty means. Also, I was somewhat surprised to realize that many family issues are the same, poor or rich. I felt such compassion for this mother.

Pearl Buck always demonstrates a deep understanding of human nature in her writing. For me, she is the link between my American background and the peasants of China. The mother in this novel is strong but filled with a great need to love. If her husband hadn't disrupted her hard life in China, she would have been happy with work and family. Her weakness was pride, which caught her in one lie after another. I have never read a disappointing novel of Pearl Buck.

One of my regrets in my old age is not reading many of the great authors of the past. I am making up for that now and am being constantly thrilled by the great literature they have produced. A simple story of a poor mother in thirties China, but profound in its power to state the human condition. I’ll definitely read more of Pearl Buck.

This is a wonderful book. It's been decades since I've read a novel by Pearl S. Buck, and I'd forgotten what a beautiful writer she was. The story of this young Chinese mother, left with three young children to raise (and an elderly mother-in-law to care for), her struggles and triumphs, is timeless. I highly recommend it.

I like books that are different and unpredictable, even when there is very little plot and no mystery or action. Idon't know what kept me reading this book. It's depressing and offers little hope that the woman might learn to enjoy life. But I kept hoping for a change in her. Any book that can keep my interest to the end gets a great rating from me.

A great book from an old friend - many years since I read Pearl Buck and I really enjoyed this book which was a nice charge from my usual reading of crime novels. Will definitely look for this author in future.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I will definitely be reading more. I loved it.

blown away with this book, cried my eyes out last chapter---a must read

Lovely, easy reading, and sensitivity to a different culture than the author's. To me her books are ideal holiday reading.

Excellent book!